by daughter Leonora Starkey Gerrard
In
the town of Furness Vale, Cheshire, England, on April 8, 1862, was born
to William Starkey and Priscilla Bacon Greaves Starkey, a son who was
named William John. He was the third in a family of seven.
Opportunities for education, especially in England, were not as great as
they are today, and in most homes the children had to work either in
the mills or the mines as soon as they were old enough. At nine, William
worked several hours a day at the "pit" or mine. He was bright and
intelligent and learned ready and writing by self-study.
When
he was just a young man, he heard Latter-day Saint missionaries preach
the gospel. One especially, William H. King, of Utah, impressed him and
convinced him of the truth of his message. He was baptized in South
Normanton, Derbyshire, England, by Henry Beard, on October 2, 1880. Two
years later, on September 2, 1882, he sailed from Liverpool, England, on
the steamship Wyoming, emigrating to America. Also on board were 662
Saints, including 16 returning missionaries, with Elder William Cooper
in charge. They arrived at Castle Gardens, New York, September 11, 1882,
and continued on by immigrant train to Evanston, Wyoming, arriving in
Evanston September 20, 1882. William found work in the mines in Almy,
Territory of Wyoming, and there he settled. (Wyoming became a state July
10, 1890.)
He was desirous of becoming of citizen of
this great country. He studied and took tests and received his
citizenship papers October 19, 1894, in the Third District Court,
Evanston, Wyoming. It had been his desire to bring his father and mother
from England to this land of America. He saved money and sent for them
as soon as he could, but learned that his mother passed away December
11, 1882, about three months after his own departure from England.
However, shortly afterward, his father came and lived with his son in
Almy until his death on August 11, 1887. He is buried in the Almy
Cemetery.
In the town of Almy there lived the family of
Reuben and Mary Fowkes. Reuben was mine superintendent, and Mary ran a
boarding house. William Starkey used to eat at this boarding house, and
one say he sat and watched one of the young Fowkes daughters, Eveline
Mae, make twenty pies. He had "had his eye" on this young lady, and this
incident "capped the climax." He was greatly impressed with her ability
as a pie-maker. After a courtship, he proposed marriage to her. They
were married in the Logan Latter-day Saints Temple on October 18, 1888,
Marriner W. Merrill officiating. Mae was 19 years and five months old
and William was 26 years and six months old. There was a difference in
their ages of seven years and one month.
(Parenthetically,
would state that their was another young man who was boarded at the
Fowkes home. This young Jew, who was wealthy, liked Mae very much. After
dinner in the evenings he would say, "Come on, Mim, and play me a
tune." Mae was often given the nickname of "Mim" for Mimic, because she
liked to imitate or mock people. This young man also wanted to marry
Mae, but she preferred William J., although he had no money. See History
of Reuben and Mary Bacon Fowkes for more about Mae.)
The
Starkeys lived in Almy, Inez, Caron, Spring Valley, Cumberland, and
Evanston, Wyoming. They also lived in Roy, Utah, for a short time, after
leaving Spring Valley. Because of family pressure, William Starkey
decided to leave the mines. There had been some tragic explosion, and
the family felt that mining was too dangerous. So in 1904, he bought a
farm at Roy, Utah. But he did not like farming. He said that is was the
darndest work he had ever done in his life. "I wasn't cut out to be a
farmer," was the remark he always made in referring to his life in Roy.
On the farm, he had to use a hand plow and would put the horse's reigns
around his neck and guide the plow with his hands. "I nearly had my nick
sawed off," he would laughingly relate. They had to pump their water
from a well. The oldest daughter, Laura, assumed most of that
responsibility, and as a result, her health suffered. She was never as
strong physically as she would have been as a result of the hard work.
They
did not stay long in Roy. They moved to Cumberland, Lincoln County,
Wyoming, where he became a gas watchman and later a min foreman. He
worked at mines No. One and No. Two. When he was a gas watchman, he
would have to go to work at about 4:30 a.m. to inspect the mine before
the men came to work. Sometimes, instead of taking his lunch (or
breakfast) with him, mother would send it with my sister Gladys or me,
later in the morning. One day mother and dad had had a small
disagreement. Dad was a very faithful tithe-payer. He believed
thoroughly and completely in the principle of tithing. He was sure that
if one paid his tithing, he would be blessed -- if not financially, in
other ways. He always gave one-tenth of his wages to the church for
tithing. As there was very little money, mother had to be a very good
manager in order to get along. One day she spent for some necessity $5
that dad had been saving for tithing. Dad was upset about it. "That five
dollars has to come from somewhere," he said emphatically. "That
tithing has to be paid." Mother was worried. She didn't know how or
where she could get the money.
The next morning, Gladys
and I took dad's lunch up to the mine for him. It was about a half a
mile from our house to the mine. We had to pass through a gully, in
which a road had been built up over a culvert. There were wide expanses
of sage and other bushes on each side. As we were returning home along
the road through the gully, we noticed a bird fly up from one of the
bushes. Gladys said, "I bet there is a bird nest in that bush!" We ran
down off the road and looked into the bush, and right where the bird had
flown from, there was an old five dollar bill. No bird nest, just the
money. We hurried home to show mother. She could hardly wait for dad to
come home. When he was told of the incident, he said, "That's the money
for the tithing!" We all agreed that that was the reason for our finding
the money. They have instilled into their children the belief that they
will get along better in life if they will be obedient to the church
teachings and pay their tithes and offerings regularly.
No comments:
Post a Comment